Posted on 06/27/2022 7:45:53 AM PDT by Ebenezer
(Translation)
Hours after a legislative bill that sought to amend Law 146-2012 of the Penal Code to establish that abortion be punished by a fixed 99-year prison sentence was withdrawn, the [Puerto Rico] Department of Justice made it clear that it will not prosecute women or healthcare professionals for such a procedure on the island.
So far this four-year term, at least 15 bills have been introduced to intervene to a lower or higher degree with the right to abortion in Puerto Rico, the last one of these from Project Dignity Representative Lisie Burgos which was introduced on Saturday – on the last day to pass bills – and withdrawn hours later.
House Bill 1407 would have amended Articles 98, 99, and 100 of the Penal Code to categorize abortion with a fixed life-imprisonment sentence and established causes for excluding from prosecution. The bill made reference to the Supreme Court decision that revoked the 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling, and the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs. Casey ruling.
However, Attorney General Domingo Emanuelli indicated that current law on the island has not been altered by the Supreme Court’s decision which revoked the precedent that recognized a constitutional right to abortion.
“As we have stated, Article 98 of the 2012 Penal Code allows abortion as a therapeutic measure performed by a physician who has been duly authorized to practice medicine in Puerto Rico, with the objective of protecting the health or life of the mother,” the Justice head maintained.
He added that, in the People vs. Duarte Mendoza case, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court ruled that every abortion prescribed by a physician directed at protecting the mental or physical health or the life of a pregnant woman is exempt from prosecution. He [also] added that the revocation of the Roe vs. Wade case “didn’t have the effect of repealing these guidelines.”
He pointed out that, in conformity with the majority opinion written by Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito, “it is now up to the states and territories to take action they understand is pertinent to regulate and legislate on this matter.”
Emanuelli is confident that, in taking such action, all the circumstances behind a woman’s choosing, or seeing herself obligated, to end a pregnancy will be examined, as well as the criteria of healthcare professionals who are experts in the field.
“The Department of Justice will continue to comply with all state and federal legal and judicial dispositions that are current and will be approved in the future, but always through their fair and sensible application toward the human being. That is our commitment to all sectors of our society, as defenders of the law and of citizens’ rights,” he stressed.
House Vice Speaker Concurs
In statements to EL VOCERO, House Vice Speaker José “Conny” Varela concurred with Emanuelli’s statements in that “Puerto Rico law remains the same” following the federal Supreme Court’s decision.
Regarding Senate Bill 693 – approved recently in the Senate and which seeks to restrict abortion after the 22nd week of pregnancy -, Varela added that he does not see much receptiveness in the House. In fact, this bill – which has generated much controversy in the last months – will be reviewed in the House next August.
“I believe it was a very wise decision to postpone until August. This bill took a lot of time to review, to be studied in the Senate. Therefore, we understand that we have to review and analyze it carefully, with no rush, and call on all pertinent parties who want to depose on it,” the Popular [Democratic Party (PPD)] legislator said.
Effort to Codify into Law
A bill co-authored by senators from the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC), the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), the PPD, and independent Senator José Vargas Vidot was introduced last week to create a Women’s and Pregnant Persons’ Reproductive Rights Protection Law.
Senate Bill 629 seeks to ratify, defend, and codify by law the right to abortion as protective of the right to privacy contained in the Puerto Rico Constitution. In announcing the bill, MVC Senator Ana Irma Rivera Lassén stated that “Puerto Rico law is still that abortion is legal to protect the life and health of women and pregnant persons.”
PIP Senator María de Lourdes Santiago maintained that “the United States Supreme Court decision which gives the State control over women’s bodies is an anticipation of other initiatives to further diminish human and civil rights. In this scenario, it’s imperative that the voices of those of us who believe in defending those rights be heard in the Legislature, and that is what this bill represents.”
It should be noted that, of the 15 bills introduced in the Legislature so far this four-year term related to pregnancy termination, two have been withdrawn, including one that sought to limit abortion access to minors.
Other bills aim to classify the causing, by commission or omission, the death of a live newborn who survived an abortion as a crime, and to create an Unborn Heartbeat in Puerto Rico Law to prohibit physicians from performing abortions once a fetal heartbeat has been detected.
Puerto Rico ping
Baby killers.
Insurrection!
Great timing going into hurricane season...
This is probably a good thing. Fewer of them coming here to be raised by the American taxpayers.
Do they have laws against abortion?
Killers gonna kill.
Well... I Don’t agree with their decision, but that’s exactly what the purpose of striking down Roe was for, to return the decisions to the states (or this case a territory). If the public of Puerto Rico support abortion, well that’s their choice I suppose.
I don’t know how liberal or restrictive the abortion laws are in Puerto Rico, so I will defer to fellow FReepers who live on the island.
This seems consistent with the SCOTUS decision overturning Roe v. Wade. It now goes back to the States (and territories). It is now up to pro-lifers in PR and their allies in the States to work and pray to eradicate the scourge of abortion there. There is no resting on our laurels; there is yet work to be done.
>>Insurrection!
No, read the article. The headline makes it sound like the guy is refusing to do his job, but the law as written in PR, allows abortion, and their Territorial Supreme Court ruled that abortion under medical pretense was exempt from prosecution. In this case, he’s just following the current law. Now, if he refused to prosecute AFTER PR’s legislature changes the law..that would be a different matter.
the question is whether its legal or not there. Its not like this ruling made it illegal. Its that the ruling gave the power back to the states (and territories) to decide for themselves.
“Fewer of them coming here to be raised by the American taxpayers.”
That is no excuse to destroy unborn life.
I bet they single out one doctor to prosecute due to his political beliefs.
Just another reason they should NEVER be granted statehood!
Perfect, Island of dr moreaux
Essentially, the Puerto Rico Attorney General has his hands tied. Current law on the island permits abortions under certain circumstances, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade does not change that as it didn’t change the abortion laws of the states and the other territories. It would be different if abortion was eventually made illegal in Puerto Rico and the AG capriciously chose not to enforce the law.
You will have to find another reason not to grant statehood to Puerto Rico.
Not unless the pro-life movement in Puerto Rico makes enough of an effort to ensure the local abortion laws are repealed and the practice is outright banned.
ANOTHER permanent dem stronghold; Need I list the ten thousand others?
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